Refrigerating apparatus



March 1934- B. J. VANDOREN ET AL 1,951,223

REFRIGERATING APPARATUS Filed July 31, 1930 =1 Sheets-Sheet 1 m 4 WW W5W WWSMATTORNEY "B. J. VANDOREN tr AL March 13, 1934.

REFRIGERA'I'ING APPARATUS Fild.J1i=ly 31, 1950,

4 shgetssh eejp 2 llllllllllll Q ii: INVENTOR Map ATTORNEY March 1934 B.J. VANDOREN ET AL 1,

REFRIGERATING APPARATUS Filed July 31, 1930 4 Sheets-Sheet 3 IN VEN TORWW iM ATTORNEY March 13, 1934W--B; J, RENE L 1,951,223

REFRIGERATING APPARATUS Filed July 31, 1930 4 Sheets-Sheet 4 fi ATTORNEYPatented Mar. 13, 1934 UNITED STATES REFBIGEBATING mm'rus Bernard-J.Vandoren and Jesse G. King, Dayton,-

Ohio, assignors to Frigidaire Corporation, Dayton, Ohio, a corporationof Delaware Application July 31, 1930, Serial No. 471,930

4 Claims.

tus and more particularly to a refrigerator adapted for storing anddisplaying food articles for sale.

One of the objects of the present invention is to provide an improvedrefrigerator cabinet for storing and displaying food articles.

Another object is to provide a refrigerator cabinet which includes astorage compartment and a display compartment, and to provide improvedrefrigerating means for maintaining the temperature in said compartmentsbelow the freezing point of water.

Further objects and advantages of the present invention will be apparentfrom the following description, referencev being had to the accompanyingdrawings, wherein a preferred form of the present invention is clearlyshown.

In the drawings:

Fig. 1 isa front plan view in elevation of the refrigerator cabinetembodying features of the invention;

Fig. 2 is a view in elevation taken from the rear of Fig. 1;

Fig. 3 is an end view in elevation of the cabinet shown in Fig. 1;

Fig. 4 is an enlarged view in cross section of the cabinet shown in Fig.1, the view being taken on the line 44 of Fig. 1;

Fig. 5 is a vertical view in cross section similar to the view shown inFig. 4, and showing a modified form of refrigerator cabinet; and

Fig. 6 is a diagrammatic illustration of a refrigerating apparatusemployed for cooling the refrigerator cabinet.

In freezing food articles such as fish, poultry, meats and the like toan intense cold temperature it has been found that while a slow freezingof foods would tend to break down the cell structure of the articlesthat if the articles are frozen suddenly to a temperature of about -45F. that the cell structure is not injured and when the article is thawedit will be in the same, if not better, condition than before it wasfrozen. While there may be adequate transportation facilities forshipping these frozen articles in packages yet the problem remains toprovide an adequate refrigerator cabinet for storing and displayingthese frozen articles.

This invention is concerned with a refrigerator cabinet for storing anddisplaying the frozen food articles in standard packages at temperaturesbelow the freezing point of water to thus maintain the foodarticles inthe frozen condi- (Cl. Bit-89.5)

This invention relates to refrigerating appara tion until sold.- Thisinvention further contemplates displaying the food articles in such amanner that they may be easily viewed by the customer and stored in areadily accessible storage compartment. 69 Referring to the drawings andparticularly to Figs. 1 to 4 the numeral 20 designates in general arefrigerator cabinet embodying features of the invention. The cabinet 20is constructed preferably of two major units, namely, a storage unit 21for storing the frozen food articles and a display unit 22 fordisplaying the frozen food articles. The storage unit 21 is providedwith a storage compartment 23 formed by a tank-like lining member 25.The storage unit 21 also includes insulated walls 2'7, 28, 29 and 30 andan outer casing 33. The display unit 22 is provided with a displaycompartment 35 formed by a lining member 37. The display unit 22 alsoincludes insulated walls 39, 40, 41 and 42. The display unit is providedwith a plurality of transparent glass panels 44 enclosing a plurality ofdead air spaces 45. The

display compartment is also provided with an 89 opening 48 closed byhinged door 49.

In order to cool the compartments 23 and ,35 to the desired temperature,for instance, a temperature below the freezing point of water we haveprovided a refrigerating apparatus of the type shown diagrammatically inFig. 6. The 35 refrigerating apparatus comprises in general a coiledevaporator 55 and a refrigerant liquefying unit 57. The refrigerantliquefying unit withdraws the gaseous refrigerant from the vapor conduit56 and liquefies the refrigerant and delivers it to a liquid supplyconduit 59. The condensing element may be of any desired type. Forexample, it may include the usual motor 62, compressor 63, condenser 64,and receiver 65. The motor is preferably controlled in response to thetemperature in the storage compartment 23 by means of an automaticswitch 67 located within the storage compartment 23 and which connectsthe motor 62 to the power mains 70. Automatic switches of this type arewell-known to those skilled in the art and any switch having thesecharacteristics may be used. The refrigerant liquefying unit 57 isadapted to supply refrigerant to the evaporator 55 under the control ofan expansion valve 72 through pipe 73. The refrigerant is first expandedin coil 74 whence it passes through pipe '76 to coil79 from whence it isdirected to pipe 82 to coil 85. As shown in Fig. 4 the coil 74 is placedin engagement with the outer side of the lining member 37 on its topside while the coil 79 is placed on the opposite wall of the liningmember 37 and in engagement with the outer side of the bottom wall ofsaid lining member. The coil 85 is wound around the tanklike liningmember 25 for cooling the compartment 23. Refrigerant enters the coil 85at the lowermost loop thereof and is directed upwardly through said coilwhence it is withdrawn through pipe 100 which is connected to vaporconduit 58 for returning the gaseous refrigerant to the compressor 63.The coil 85 is in engagement with the tank-like lining member 25 andpreferably the coil 85 as well as'the coils 74 and 75 are soldered tothe lining members 25 and 37 respectively.

In order to prevent condensation within the insulated walls of therefrigerator cabinet, the coils 74, 79 and are hermetically sealed fromthe insulated walls by means of any suitable cement, preferably,bituminous cement such as hydrolene 105. Thus the hydrolene 105 byhermetically sealing the coils of the evaporator 55 will prevent thecollection of moisture within the insulated walls of the refrigeratorcabinet.

Referring more in detail to the drawings, the storage unit 21 includesan angle iron frame 110 which supports a wooden frame member 112 towhich the tank-like lining member 25 is secured. The unit 21 is providedwith an opening 115 closed by a removable panel 116. For the purpose ofaccessibility the expansion valve and evaporator fittings are located inthe opening 115. If desired, suitable insulating material such as kapok(not shown) may be inserted around the valve and fittings in the opening115- In order to arrange the storage unit in such a manner that thecontents therein are readily accessible, a plurality of movable closuremeans 120 are provided in the top wall of the unit adjacent the rear ofthe display unit. A preferred method of manufacturing the storage unitis to secure the lining member 25, and frame 112 to the angle iron frame100, insert the insulation 27 and 29 and then pour the hydrolene aroundthe coil 85- which is secured to the lining 25. The insulation 30 isthen placed in position and so held by the metal plate 125 which issupported by slats 127.

As shown in Fig. 4, the display unit 22 is mounted on the top of thestorage unit and extends or overlaps said storage unit at the front partof the cabinet 20. This arrangement permits the customer to stand veryclose to the cabinet to view the articles displayed since theoverlapping portion of the display unit provides ample foot -roomtherebelow.

The display unit may be secured to the rest of the cabinet in anysuitable removable manner preferably by screws (not shown) and may beseparated from the coil 85 of the evaporator 55 by simply removing theevaporator fittings 135 and 136. Thus the display unit may be removed byremoving said screws and turning the fittings 135 and 136 and thenlifting the display unit upwardly until the pipes '73 and 82 clear thetop of the storage unit.

Referring to Fig. 5 there is shown a modified form of refrigeratorcabinet designated in general by the numeral 150. The cabinet 150 isprovided with a storage unit 151 and a display unit 152. The displayunit is mounted above the storage unit on a vertical wall 155 carried bythe unit 151 and also suppo'rted by a metallic member 158. The metallicmember 158, vertiobliquely disposed with reference to the plan of thestorage unit. By this arrangement the bottom wall of the display unitprovides a sloping shelf for the articles; displayed to thus enablethecustomer to easily view said articles on display. As shown in Fig.5-, lids 170 are I hinged to the storage unit and may be moved upwardlyutilizing a portion of thespace 160 thus enabling the use of larger lidsthan those used on the cabinet shown in Fig. 4.

In a refrigerator cabinet of the type herein described there are manyadvantages some of which are that the refrigerant may first be expandedin one compartment and then in the other to thus automatically maintaindifferent temperatures in the separate compartments. Also therefrigerating'apparatus is so arranged that the separate compartmentswill be cooled to the desired temperatures although the compartments arefilled with standard packages containing the frozen food articles.

While the form of embodiment of the invention as herein disclosed,constitutes a preferred form, it is to be understod that other formsmight be adopted, all coming within the scope of the claims whichfollow.

What is claimed is as follows:

1. A refrigerator cabinet comprising in combination a display unit and astorage unit, insulated walls for said units, lining members for saidunits, a coiled liquid refrigerant evaporator disposed between saidinsulated walls and said lining members and hermetically sealed fromsaid insulation, said evaporator being in engagement with opposite sidesof each of said lining members, and a refrigerant circulating elementfor supplying refrigerant to said evaporator, said refrigerant firstbeing expanded on opposite sides of one of said lining members and thenthe other to thus maintain different temperatures in said units.

2. A refrigerator cabinet comprising in combination a display unit and astorage unit, insulated walls for said units, lining members for saidunits, a coiled liquid refrigerant evaporator disposed between saidinsulated walls and said lining members and hermetically sealed fromsaid insulation, said evaporator being in engagement with opposite sidesof each of said lining members, and a refrigerant circulating elementfor supplying refrigerant to said evaporator, said refrigerant firstbeing expanded on the top side of one of the lining members, the bottomside of said member and then on opposite sides of the other liningmember.

3. A combined display and storage refrigerator comprising in combinationa lower storage compartment and an upper display compart-- ment, saidcompartments being insulated from the atmosphere and from each other,said display compartment being located above and on the forward end ofsaid storage compartment and having a transparent front wall and accessopenings in the rear wall, and means for cooling said displaycompartment comprising cooling coils embedded in the upper and lowerwalls of said display compartment, said lower storage compartment havingaccess openings in its upper horizontal wall and cooling coils embeddedin the walls of said storage compartmen said coils being in thermal sideof said upper linact with the under side tantiaily as described.

of said chamber, contact with the upper ing and in thermal cont of said.lower lining, subs comprising an intransparent front the rear wall,upper conducting material er, and means said means comprising coolin theupper and lower walls BERNARD J. VANDOREN. JESSE G. KING.

